Railway-brake.



PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

3'. H. GRAHAM. RAILWAY BRAKE. APPLIQATION FILED MAY 5, 1902. nmmwnnlua. 21, 1904.

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RAILWAY BRAKE. LPPLIGATION FILED MAY 5, 1902. RENEWED MAR. 81, 1904.

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UN TED STATES Patented April 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

PAYNE GRAY, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY-BRAKE.

" SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,177, dated April 26, 1904.

Application filed May 5, 1902. Renewed March 21, 1904. Serial No. 199,187. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN HECTOR GRAHAM,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Bos- -ton, in the county of Sufii'olk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve ment in Railway-Brakes, of which the follow-;

ing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention-has for its object to improve the construction of car-brake illustrated in my Patent No. 610,676, dated September 13, 1898. In that patent is illustrated a U-shaped bar or brake supporting member which is-secured to the car-truck and is fulcrumed upon the car-axle, the construction being such that as the load on the trucks increases the brakeshoes are raised and brought into the best position for quick and effective operation. In the construction shown in said patent the brake-beam is supported by hangers, which in turn are secured to the transverse portion of a U-shaped brake-supporting member. With this construction the hangers were situated out of line with the side portions of the said brake-supporting member and with the fulcrum point therefor, and as a consequence the strain to which the hangers are subjected has tobe transmitted to the axle and car-truck through an L -shaped member. Moreover,

since the hanger swings from a fixed point of dependent supporting members for each brake, one at each side of the truck, whereby the point of attachment of the hangers and brake-heads is in the line of the supporting members, and I have also provided a novel manner of suspending my hanger from the supporting member, whereby the point of suspenslon varies as wear occurs in the brakesh-oes. Y

' This-improvement provides means whereby the brake-head moves toward the wheel in a substantially horizontal line radially of the wheel as the shoes wear, whereby the shoes are evenly worn, and thus theirlife is lengthened.

Another important feature of this invention reside's'in the novel manner of fulcruming'the brake-supporting member on the axle of the car, and still another feature resides in the novel way in which the end of said-member is secured to the truck-frame.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side el'evaenlarged section on line a z, Fig; 5. Fig. 8'

shows *a modification. Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating the operation of my improved hanger, and Fig. 10 is a modification.

Although my invention can beapplied' to any car having any style of truck-frame, I have for convenience illustrated it in Fig. 1 as applied to the ordinarypassenger truck-frame, and in said figure 3 designates generally the truck-frame, 4 the car-wheels, and 5 the axleboxes, which are confined between the jaws of the pedestal 6, these parts being all as usually constructed. Each axle-box has cast intogrally therewith or supported thereon in'some suitable'way a fulcrum bracket or holder 7, grooved out to receive the brake-supporting member in the form of an arm or bar 8 and "forming a fulcrum for the latter, said holder having the lip 25, which extends over the bar or arm, as in my patent above referred to.

If the bracket or holder 7 is separate from the axle-box, as shown in Fig. 3, it will be formed with the foot portion 10, which substantially covers the top of the axle-box and on which the ends of the usual spring equalizer-bar 31 rest, said foot portion having the dowels or pins 9, which are received in recesses in the top of the axle-box and serve to position the bracket. The vertical grooved portion of the bracket, it will be understood, is at the inner end of the axle-box adjacent the wheel, as shown in Fig. 2.

Instead of employing a U -shaped brake-supporting member, as in my patent, I employ a separate independent brake-supporting arm or bar 8 at each side of the truck, and each of said bars rests upon a rocker 11., which is held in a groove in the bracket, said rockers each having a projection 12, which is received in a suitable recess in the bottom of the groove and about which the rocker turns as a fulcrum as the load on the truck varies.

The ends of the bars 8 may be fulcrumed or connected to the truck in anysuitable way, and in Figs. 1, 2, and 5 I have shown the inner ends of the said bars as secured directly to the caps 13 for the usual equalizer-springs 14:, and for this purpose each of said caps is provided with the boss 15, which preferably sets'against the inside of the sill 16 of the truck, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and which has an aperture to receive the end of the bar 8.

Both the top and the bottom of the aperture in eachboss are flared outwardly from'a central apex or fulcrum-point 27, so as to allow free vertical swinging movement of the supporting-bar, and to allow for an independent transverseor lateral swinging movement of each bar I will preferably construct the sides of the aperture in the bars with opposed bearing projections 27, which engage the opposite sides of the bar 8 and serve as fulcrum-points for the transverse swinging movement of the bar. This provision for the independent transverse or lateral play of the supportingbars I consider as quite important and as a decided improvement over the comparatively rigid pivotal connection of my former patent, for as the wheels shift laterally with reference to the truckas, for instance, when the car is moving on a curve-the brake-shoes can very readily and instantly follow the movements of the wheels without causing any binding of the parts. .The bars may be retained in place by any suitable means, and ,I have herein shown simply a cotter-pin 29, which extends through each bar and which serves to prevent the same from slipping or withdrawing from its supporting-boss.

In some instances I may fulcrum the inner ends of the bars 8 to the ears or clips,to which the hangers or inside brakes are usually hung, as seen in Fig. 8. In this figure a block 43 is employed, which is supported from the usual ears 44:, from which the inside brakes are usually hung, and said block has the apertured boss 45, similar in shape tothe boss 15 in Fig. 5, and in which the end of the bar 8 is supported.

The brake-heads 29, which I preferably employ, are those shown and described in my 00- pending application, Serial No. 105,921 filed May 5, 1902, they having the shelf or ledge 20, to which the hanger 21 is rigidly secured. Each hanger has at its upper end an eye 22, through which passes the end of the corresponding brake-supporting bar 8, said eye having a snug sliding fit over the bar to allow the hanger to work up the bar or arm as the brake-shoes wear, as will be presently explained. The hangers are prevented from slipping olf the end of the bar by suitable stop or cotter pins 23.

From the above it will be noted that the point of connection between the brake-head and the hanger is in the longitudinal plane of the supporting members 8, and therefore the point where the lifting or depressing force, due to the friction between the brake-shoes and the wheel when the brakes are applied, is

resisted is in the longitudinal plane of thehanger, the, bar 8, and the bearings for the bar. This I consider quite an important feature, for it prevents any twisting or distortion of the bar, as would occur if the point of connection between the hanger and brakehead or brake-beam were out of alinement with the fulcrum member 8.

The operation of my improved brake will be readily apparent from the foregoing and is as follows: When the car is unloaded, the equalizer-springs 1i elevate the longitudinal sills or wheel-pieces 16 of the truck and the innerv ends of the fulcrumed supporting members 8, thus dropping the brake-shoes below the horizontal. level of the wheels; When, however, the. truck is heavily loaded, the equalizer springs are compressed, and the lowering of the inner ends of the bars 8 serves toelevate the brake-shoes to substantially the center of the wheel, which is the best point for quick and effective braking. Assuming the car to be moving in the direction of the arrow a, the wheels will be revolving in the direction of arrows b. When now the brakes are applied, the friction between the brakeand the wheel at the right, Fig. 1, will tend to lift the brake,while the friction between the left-hand brake and wheel will tend to carry the brake downward. These lifting and depressingforees instead of being transmitted directly to the ends of the truck, as in the ordinary construction, are taken or resisted partly by the axles and artly by the caps for the equalizer-springs, which are sithated sub= stantially at the truck center, and the result is that all tipping of the truck is obviated. In

the tread-surface of the wheel the eye 22 gradually works up the bar 8, so as to maintain the same relative position between the point of suspension and the brakin -surface,

as shown in Fig. 9, wherein the full-line poby the vibration of the brakes when being apthe fixed point of suspension for the hanger,

as in the previous structures. This providing of a movable or variable point of suspension for the hanger I consider quite an important feature of my invention, as by-means of this construction the-length of the life of theshoes is materially increased. Iwould add that this latter feature of my invention is not limited in its application tothe-specific form of brakesupporting member herein shown, as it is equally applicable to a construction wherein the brakes are supported directly from the ends of the truck, as is now commonly donei Fig. loiillustrates how this may be done, and in said figure the truck has a supporting-arm 8, from which the hanger is suspended inthe same manner as is done with reference to the supporting-bar 8. tion the point of connection between the hanger and brake-head is also'situated in the longitudinal plane of the supportingarm 8", and the same advantages are inherent therein as were described with reference to the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1.

By fulcruming the bars 8 directly to the cap .13 for the spring the downward pressure upon the truck-frame, due. to applying the brakes, is brought directly to bear upon the springs instead of on the wheel-pieoes 16 This is important, as it reduces greatly the tendency of the trucks to tip.

An important feature of my invention, which has been referred to above, is the fact that the point of attachment between the hanger and brake-head'is in the longitudinal plane of the supporting-arm, whether the arm be fulcrumed, as in Fig. 1, or of the type shown in Fig. 10.

Various changes may be made in the struc ture of the parts without departing from my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a brake mechanism, a brake-head sup.- portingabrake-shoe,means connecteddirectly to one side of the head for supporting the latter, and means for varying the position of the brake-head Vertically to compensate for Varying loads.

In this form of my inven-.

2. In a brake mechanism, a truck-frameia brake-head adapted to support a brake-shoe,

a rocking brake supporting member fuls.

crumedon the car-axle, and means to'support the brake-head from one end of said brakesupporting member, the other end of said member being connected to the cap for the spring of the truck. I

3. In a brake -m echanism,'-a truck-frame having longitudinal wheel-pieces, springs supporting said wheel-pieces, caps secured tothe wheel piecesand inwhich the springs are seated, a brake-supporting bar fulcrumed in: termediate its ends on the car-axle and-havin g one end connected to one of said caps, and a brake-shoe suspended from the other end of said bar.

4. In a brake. mechanism, a truck-frame having wheel-pieces, springs supporting said wheel-pieces, caps secured to the wheel-pieces andin which the springs are situated, abrakesupporting bar fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the car-axle and having one end connected to-one of said caps, a hanger suspended from the other end of said bar, and a brakehead secured directly to said hanger.

mounted rocker carried by each end of a caraxle, a brake-supporting member supported intermediate its ends on each of said rockers,

. means to secure one end of each of said memhers to the truck-frame, and a brake-beam secured directly to each hanger, and a brake-- beam uniting said brake-heads.

8. In abrake mechanism, a grooved bracket IIO on the car-axle box, a rocker in said groove,

10. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm, a rigid hanger slidably supported thereon and a brake-shoe suspended from said hanger, the connection between the hanger and arm being such that as the brake-shoe wears the point of connection between the hanger and arm varies.

11. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm, a hanger slidably mounted thereon and brake-shoes supported by the hanger.

12. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm connected to the truck at each side thereof, said arms being independent from each other and each arm being fulcrumed on the car-axle, and a brake-head suspended from the free end of each arm.

13. In a brake apparatus, a pair of brakesupporting arms fulcrumed on opposite ends of a car-axle, said arms being independent from each other, and a hanger supporting abrake-head suspended from the free end of each arm.

14. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the car-axle, a hanger suspended therefrom, and a brake-shoe secured to the hanger, the con nection between the hanger and arm being such that as the brake-shoe wears the point of suspension of the hanger varies.

15. In a brake apparatus, a pair of independent brake-supporting arms fulcrumed on opposite ends of a car-axle, and flexibly connected to the truck topermit both vertical and lateral play, and a hanger supporting a brake-shoe suspended from the free end of each arm.

16. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the car-axle box and flexibly connected at its ends to the car-truck so as to be capable of swinging movement both vertically and laterally, a hanger suspended from the free end of said arm, and a brake-shoe supported by said hanger.

17. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm fulcrumed on the car-axle adjacent the car-wheel, a hanger suspended from said arm and a brake-head connected-to the hanger, the point of connection between the hanger and brake-head being in the longitudinal plane of the arm.

18. In a brake apparatus, a pivotedbrakesupporting arm, a hanger supported thereby, and a brake-head connected to the hanger, the point of connection between the hanger and brake-head being in line with the arm.

19. In a brake apparatus, a brake-supporting arm situated at one side of the plane of the car-wheel, ahanger supported by said arm, and a brake-head connected directly to the hanger, the point of connection between the hanger and the brake-head being in line with the arm.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 'LoUIs C. SMITH. 

